Leo III the Isaurian or
the Syrian (
Greek: Λέων Γ΄,
Leōn III), (c. 685–
June 18,
741) was
Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to a period of instability, successfully defended the empire against the invading
Umayyads, and forbade the veneration of icons (see
Iconoclasm).
Life
Early life
Leo, whose original name was Konon, was born in Germanikeia (
Maraş) in the Syrian province of
Commagene. Some, including the
Byzantine chronicler
Theophanes, have claimed that Konon's family had been resettled in
Thrace, where he entered the service of Emperor
Justinian II, when the latter was advancing on
Constantinople with an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by
Tervel of Bulgaria in 705, but such an assertion is not supported by the writings of Patriarch Nicephorus nor is it found in other oriental sources.
After the victory of Justinian II, Leo was dispatched on a diplomatic mission to
Alania and
Lazica to organize an alliance against the
Umayyad Caliphate under
Al-Walid I. Leo was appointed commander (
stratēgos) of the
Anatolic theme by Emperor
Anastasius II. On his deposition Leo joined with his colleague
Artabasdus, the
stratēgos of the
Armeniac theme, in conspiring to overthrow the new Emperor Theodosius III. Artabasdus was betrothed to
Anna,
daughter of Leo as part of the agreement.
Siege of Constantinople
Leo entered Constantinople on
March 25,
717 and forced the abdication of Theodosios III, becoming emperor as Leo III. The new emperor was immediately forced to attend to the
Second Arab siege of Constantinople, which commenced in August of the same year. The Arabs were Ummayad forces sent by Caliph
Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik and serving under
Maslama. They had taken advantage of the civil discord in the Roman Empire to bring a force of 80,000 to 120,000 men and a massive fleet to the
Bosphorus.
Careful preparations and the stubborn resistance put up by Leo wore out the invaders. An important factor in the victory of the Romans was their use of
Greek fire. The Arab forces also fell victim to Bulgarian reinforcements arriving to aid the Romans. Leo was allied with the Bulgarians but the chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor was uncertain if they were still serving under Tervel or his eventual successor
Kormesiy of Bulgaria. Unable to continue the siege in the face of the Bulgarian onslaught and lack of successes, the Arabs were forced to abandon their ambitions on Constantinople in August, 718. Sulayman himself had died the previous year and his successor
Umar II would not attempt another siege. The siege had lasted 12 months.
Administration
Having thus preserved the Empire from extinction, Leo proceeded to consolidate its administration, which in the previous years of anarchy had become completely disorganized. In 718 he suppressed a rebellion in
Sicily and in 719 did the same on behalf of the deposed Emperor
Anastasios II. Leo secured the Empire's frontiers by inviting
Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts and by restoring the
army to efficiency; when the Ummayad Caliphate renewed their invasions in 726 and 739, as part of the campaigns of
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Arab forces were decisively beaten, particularly at
Akroinon in 740. His military efforts were supplemented by his alliances with the
Khazars and the
Georgians.
Leo undertook a set of civil reforms including the abolition of the system of prepaying taxes which had weighed heavily upon the wealthier proprietors, the elevation of the
serfs into a
class of free
tenants and the remodelling of
family,
maritime law and
criminal law, notably substituting
mutilation for the
death penalty in many cases. The new measures, which were embodied in a new
code called the
Ecloga (
Selection), published in 740, met with some opposition on the part of the nobles and higher clergy. The emperor also undertook some reorganization of the
theme structure by creating new themata in the
Aegean region.
Iconoclasm
Leo's most striking legislative reforms dealt with religious matters, especially
iconoclasm ("Icon-breaking"). After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the
baptism of all
Jews and
Montanists in the empire (722), he issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729). This prohibition of a custom which had undoubtedly given rise to grave abuses seems to have been inspired by a genuine desire to improve public morality, and received the support of the official aristocracy and a section of the clergy. A majority of the theologians and all the monks opposed these measures with uncompromising hostility, and in the western parts of the empire the people refused to obey the edict.
A revolt which broke out in Greece, mainly on religious grounds, was crushed by the imperial fleet in 727. In 730,
Patriarch Germanos I of Constantinople resigned rather than subscribe to an iconoclast decree. Leo had him replaced by
Anastasios, who willingly sided with the emperor on the question of icons. Thus Leo suppressed the overt opposition of the capital.
In the
Italian Peninsula, the defiant attitude of Popes
Gregory II and
Gregory III on behalf of image-veneration led to a fierce quarrel with the emperor. The former summoned councils in
Rome to anathematize and excommunicate the iconoclasts (730, 732); Leo retaliated by transferring
Southern Italy and
Illyricum from the papal diocese to that of the
Patriarch of Constantinople. The struggle was accompanied by an armed outbreak in the
exarchate of Ravenna in 727, which Leo finally endeavoured to subdue by means of a large fleet. But the destruction of the armament by a storm decided the issue against him; his South Italian subjects successfully defied his religious edicts, and the
Exarchate of Ravenna became effectively detached from the empire.
The emperor died of
dropsy in June 741.
Family
His wife
Maria, Leo III had four known children:
Footnotes
